


Hello My Name Is..?

by Girl_Supersonicboy



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Content, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Amnesia, Cussing, Depression, Drinking, F/F, F/M, Friendship, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Relationship(s), Relationship(s), Shyness, Smoking, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-08-23 16:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8334427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Girl_Supersonicboy/pseuds/Girl_Supersonicboy
Summary: Most humans didn't care for monsters, some even downright hated them, but you weren't like most humans. On a rainy day, you find yourself being pulled into an adventure that you would never have imagined and with someone you never thought of having in your life.
Beaten, broken, and with no memory of who he is, you take in a very tall but gentle skeleton. He had no place to go and with no one willing to help a lost monster, that leaves you to be his rescuer and savior... 
Are you up to the task? And if you are, will you be able to handle all the baggage that comes with it?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story has been bugging me since I first fell into the undertale void.
> 
> and since I have been having major writer's block, I figured this would help bring my skills back.
> 
> More will be explained in later notes and chptrs but until then I hope you enjoy the first chptr I have so far.
> 
>  
> 
> ;-)

If someone had told you what your future would be like, you wouldn’t have believed a single word of it. You had come to the conclusion that life, heck probably the universe, was out to get you. Nothing seemed to ever go your way and you had accepted that a long time ago. Your life was nothing but one shitty moment after another and if anything ever went in your favor it was very slim.

So it was hard to believe you would ever be as happy as you would be, but before you ever got your happy ending it all started with an umbrella.

Or lack of an umbrella really.

The day had started off nice and sunny, but by the end of it the weather had changed and golf ball sized water droplets were pounding on the roof of your office building.  It wasn’t a problem for you at this moment, but work finished at five and that was only fifteen minutes away. With the way the rain sounded outside, it wasn’t going to let up anytime soon.

Home was at least a thirty minute walk away from work, and with your car in the shop it seemed to you were destined to be soaked to the bone.

“You going to be okay getting home?” a voice broke you from your stupor and when you turned around you found your coworker standing behind you; Vick. “I can give you a ride.”

Vick was an older man, technically everyone in your job was older than you seeing as you were only 21, but he was kind and friendly with you and that had earned him a small path to being your friend. You were terrifying shy around people, eyes always averted and only speaking when necessary, but Vick was patient with you and took the time for you to build some trust with him. You could at least hold eye contact with him for more than a minute.

“No, I’ll be fine.” You replied. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

Another problem of yours was asking for help and taking any offered to you. You weren’t sure why you were like this, probably some deep rooted psychological abuse bullshit or something, but you didn’t see the need for people worrying over you and saw it better that they looked after themselves more than you.

“… You sure? It’s raining bad outside and I know your cars in the shop, it wouldn’t be any trouble.” Vick’s voice was heavy with concern, concern you didn’t deserve, and his expression held a heavy amount of worry on it.

No longer able to hold his gaze a second longer, you quickly turned back to your desk to stare at the blank computer screen. How you wish you had something on there to give you an excuse to not look at Vick right now.

 

“It’s okay Vick.” You replied, already you could feel your face heating up with embarrassment; why, you don’t know. “You go be with your family. Isn’t it your turn to take your son into therapy today anyway?”

Vick’s son was autistic, and on every Friday Vick had to take his son into a special therapy class to help him with… pretty much everything. It sometimes made you wonder how Vick could smile so much day after day with that kind of burden.

“Yeah, that’s right. I almost forgot.” Vick’s expression, unknown to you with your eyes glued to the computer, had changed to fear. “Thanks for reminding me. See you next week.”

Hearing his boots tromp across the floor and the front door opening and closing, you let out a tired sigh.

“See you next week.”

You worked as the front desk lady for your job. Nothing exciting really, greet people (hard thing to do mind you), directed them to the person they wished to see, answer phone calls, etc. This was only temporarily though, Mindy, the actual desk lady, was out on medical leave and that left you to take over while everyone else went about their business.

You didn’t mind sitting at the desk and answering the phone, but you wanted your old job back. Your real job wasn’t much, but you enjoyed it far more than this. Theoretically, you were only an extra pair of hands that got passed around the office to help everyone else out, but you enjoyed that; helping others. With your help it also made your other coworkers happy because they had less work on their busy hands.

Glancing up at the clock, you saw your once fifteen minutes had now dropped down to ten and that was your signal to start closing up. One of your other jobs was to help close up the office; turn off the lights, make sure everyone was gone, doors locked, the works.

Once all that was done, you woefully opened the door to find the rain was still going strong. Perfect.

Pulling the hood up on your jacket, not a rain coat either, you stepped outside. First thoughts: Cold and Wet! Lucky you.

Not wanting to waist another second out in this mess, you began the walk home. And how _lovely_ a walk it was. About half way there you were completely soaked and already shivering. You were more than certain to be sick this weekend.

Walking down the street you paused to stop under a shop canapé to shake some of the water off you. Your clothes were clinging to you like a second pair of skin and your shoes felt full of water.

“Are you okay Miss?”

Jumping in surprise, you looked to find a monster standing next to you. It was a little bat looking monster with black and purplish fur and big eyes staring at you with concern. Concern again you didn’t deserve.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You lied. Who would be fine sopping wet and cold? “Just a bit wet is all.”

“A _bit_ I think is a dramatic understatement I think.” The bat said as he dug around in his little pouch and pulled out small handkerchief. “I know it’s not much, but at least you can dry your face.”

Smiling, you slowly took the piece of cloth. Monster had appeared from the underground about three or four years ago, you were always bad with time, and truthfully you saw nothing wrong with them. They were just people, well sort of, who wanted to live on the surface that had been taken from them. You may see them as people, but many humans would disagree.

A lot, if not most, of the human population had turned a sour face when the monsters appeared. Some humans wanting to enclose the monsters at Mount Ebott while others wanted to try and enclose them back in the underground, but in the end monsters were given freedom to roam so long as they had their identification cards and numbers with them.

Saying your thanks to the little monster, you dried your face before handing the now soaked hand cloth back only to have the bat push it back towards you.

“Keep it, please.” He said with a wide toothy smile. “I think it’ll do you more use than me… and you’re the first human I’ve met that didn’t…”

This made you frown. Though monsters were given free range to roam wherever they so choose, that didn’t mean they were safe. Many humans were nasty to monsters and some attacked, even killed them. There were cases put on against the humans in question, but barely anything was done.

“… Thank you.” You said softly as you held the cloth. You wanted to say more, at least ask the little guy’s name, but with a quick glance at a wrist watch attached to his bag, the bat made an odd, but cute, little squeak.

“I’m late! Nice talking to you Miss!” the bat said as he ran off, almost slipping in a puddle before he turned the corner and disappeared.

Looking down at the cloth in your hand, you noticed how it had a cute purple fringe on it before pocketing it into your jacket.

The rain no longer seemed to be a problem of yours now, thanks to that little monsters kindness, but your carefree nature wouldn’t last as you passed an alley and heard something like glass break.

Stopping right at the mouth of the alley, you stared down the dark passage with a blank expression. It was a small opening between two shops, only big enough for a small dumpster on one side and a fire escape on the other but it was dark enough you couldn’t see the end.

Something told you to just walk on, to not be stupid and like one of those girls in those horror films you liked to watch, but when the sound of something meeting the end of a bat echoed out you became curious. Slowly walking down the alley, sticking close to the dumpster side for cover, you listened closely.

It sounded like a couple of men were in the alley, from their muffled shouting, but they weren’t alone; someone else was with them.

Once you were brave enough to venture around the dumpster you were able to see what was at the end of the path. A group of four men were huddled in a corner, standing over someone who was covered in garbage you could only guess was from the dumpster behind you.

“Think it’s dead?” one of the men asked.

“Hard to tell, the rain keeps washing it clean.”

“I think we beat it enough that if we leave it here it’ll be dust by morning.”

“One more kick to the head for good measure?”

The conversation these men were having made you sick to your stomach. They had hurt someone, badly you guessed, but you were confused by their words. Dust? What did dust have to do with this?

Before you could pounder on the thought longer, a loud and sickening crack was heard. Turning back to the group, you saw that the man who had suggested the kick had gone and done that and whoever was under the garbage had stopped moving.

“Good, that should finish it. Let’s go.”

Terror struck you as you quickly scampered to the other side of the dumpster before the men saw you. Something told you that if you were spotted it wouldn’t end well. The dumpster had enough space behind it for you to semi-squeeze behind it, god you needed to lose weight, and give you a hiding spot as the men walked out of the alley; laughing and never looking back.

Once sure they were gone and not coming back, you got out of your hiding spot and walked over to the pile of garbage. The person beneath it wasn’t moving but you could make out a soft wheezing sound; probably breathing.

“Hello?” your voice was quiet, but loud enough to be heard, your fear taking over. “Are you still…”

Are they still alive? It was better than asking if they were alright, which was obvious they weren’t. Once you were close enough to be standing next to the pile of rubbish, you couldn’t make out who was beneath it but when a soft moan came it filled you with hope; your hope only growing bigger as a glove covered hand began to slowly peak out of the trash. Whoever was under there was still alive, at least enough to hear you.

“Hold on, I’ll get you out.” You said as you dropped down to your knees and started throwing garbage bags and other trash behind you. It didn’t matter to you if your knees were being cut by glass shards or that you were most likely going to smell like trash all weekend, this person matter more than your wellbeing at this point.

“Almost done,” you said as the trash was becoming less and less. “don’t worry you’re going to be just-”

What lay before you was not who you had been expecting. Broken and battered on the ground was a monster; a skeleton too. He looked horrible; at least you thought it was a he.  The shirt he had on was torn, showing how one rib was cracked and two were completely broken off and gone; only a nub on the sternum remaining. His collar bone looked bruised and the monster’s spin looked like a spider web with all the cracks in it. The worst of it though was on the poor things head.

Most likely from when the man had kicked him, there was a large crack above its left socket. It was wide enough you probably could put your finger through it and at the top it splintered out and looked like tree roots.

This monsters was lucky enough to be alive.

“Oh god…” you said as your gaze turned away. How could you help him? What if moving him killed him?! It’s not like you had anyone to call to come help you, and calling the police was out of the question. The police wouldn’t help a monster, from what you saw on the news they only made things worse.

Your mind was so deep in thoughts of worry and what you should do that you didn’t notice the monster’s hand had grasped at yours until he gave it a soft squeeze. Turning to look back at the skeleton, you saw that his sockets had opened up (how did they close anyway?) and were staring at you.

He didn’t say anything, but his empty sockets were enough to tell you; they read help me.

A sudden rush of determination filled you as squeezed the skeleton’s hand right back.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.” Standing up, you slowly and carefully pulled the skeleton to his feet and threw his arm over your shoulder. You were shocked to see how tall the skeleton was, he was at least a head taller than you were at you were at least six foot.

The monster was conscious enough to manage walking out of the alley on his good leg; the other you found was cracked. Once out of the retched place, you two made the trek to your apartment. It took longer than normal, the rain chilling you both and having the taller monster leaning on you slowed you, but you soon made it.

Your apartment was, thankfully, on the first floor, and after a bit of fumbling to get the key you two went inside. The skeleton looked ready to faint with how his head was resting on yours and with how shallow his breathing was you quickly made it to your bedroom. Slowly lowering the skeleton onto the bed, you made sure he was safe before you sprang into action.

Racing into the bathroom, you looked for anything that could help you help the monster in your bed.

“Bandages, bandages, where the hell did I put those bandages!” you screamed at yourself as you dug in the cabinet; finding the bandages behind the bottle of pain killers. Taking both items, you then grabbed some antibacterial spray and a washcloth. Having been lying in that garbage couldn’t be good with open wounds for either of you.

Once you had all you thought you needed, you raced back to your bed and dropped everything next to the monster who had gone eerily still. Working on cleaning his more open cracks, you sprayed the antibacterial in them and watched at how the monster didn’t even respond. A bit fearful, you focused on your task. Cleaning the wounds out with the cloth, you moved on to wrapping what you could with the bandages.

You didn’t have a lot to spare so you used them on what you thought needed the most attention, and so far that was the spin and ribs. The spin was a bit difficult to wrap up but you made sure it held in place and once the ribs wouldn’t be able to move you checked on the monster’s face. There wasn’t much you could do, but from how he had this peaceful look on him you guessed he was find; for now.

Turning to your own wounds, mostly minor cuts, you cleaned them and covered them in the cheap Band-Aids you had lying around. Funny, they were Halloween themed with bones.

After settling down on the other side of the bed, you found yourself staring at the monster beside you. He seemed to be breathing just fine, the wheezing had stopped so that’s something. He just barely fit in your bed, his bare feet hanging of the edge. Throwing the blanket over his body you tried your best to cover him up.

As you tucked him in, you noticed how he had this beat up looking scarf around neck. It was a lovely shade of red, and it looked worn past its prime with the few holes it had in it. Thinking of something, and it was a big long shot, you took the scarf in your hands. Opening it up and unraveling it to its full length, you scanned over it.

There it was, what you had been hoping for; a name. It was embroidered into a corner of the scarf and looked to have been put in there with much love. Unlucky for you, some of the letters were torn off and gone. All that was left was a handful of letters.

_Prop~~~y of ~~~~rus. Love fr~m S~~s_

You could make a guess at the first word being property but from there everything else was up for debate.  Whoever this skeleton was his name ended in rus and someone who loved him was S-s… not much to really work with.

“Well _Rus_ , I guess you’re stuck with me until you wake up.” You said as you wrapped the scarf back around his neck. “… What have I gotten myself into?”

That was the start of your story.

And boy was it going to be a wild one. 


	2. Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a bit short but still long enough to get it rolling!

You were right about getting sick from walking in the rain.

You had woken up around four in the morning with a coughing fit, which turned into a parade of sneezes, and ended with you staying up and no longer able to fall back asleep. You had medicine to help, but it wasn’t the kind that knocked you out; bummer. Since your bed was taken by your _monstrous_ house guest, you had taken to sleeping on the couch and right now you had the tv on to hopefully lull you back to sleep. You knew it wouldn’t.

Wrapped up in the thickest blanket you owned, you sniffled as the show you were watching went to commercial. Since it was late, or early, depending on how you looked at it, the only shows on were news channels spouting off stories you didn’t want to hear, some shows that didn’t interest you, and what you were watching now. It was some old black and white show that had caught your fancy, and was showing these men and woman trying to accomplish something; one man messing up all attempts at every turn.

You weren’t really paying attention, only getting bits and pieces when you did watch it. It wasn’t that you were losing interest in the show, you actually liked black and white shows (more meaning to them), it was more the fact that every five seconds your cell phone would _ping_ to notify you that one of two people had messaged you.

Lucky for you in your sick induced insomnia, you had two friends who never seemed to know when it was the right time to be a sleep or awake.

*ping*

Francis: You still awake?

*ping*

Alvin: Of course she is. Poor baby’s nose is stoof up.

Alvin and Francis, two of your bestest friends you had known both since high school and the three of you were like peas in a pod. Alvin was kind of a butt to you, but he did care and it was mostly him teasing to get your reaction. Francis was your caring and sometimes over protective bud who, when no one else would, looked after you.

You: Asshole. Maybe I should come over to your house Al and sneeze my goobers on you.

*ping*

Alvin: No thanks, but I bet Francis would LOVE to have you over.

*ping*

Francis: I’m good, besides she has a secret house guest to watch over.

You were starting to regret telling them you had someone in your house. Alvin, being _Alvin_ , had taken it a much darker, and dirtier, route then it was, and Francis was concerned for you and had asked who this mystery guest was. When you said you’d explain later, they both started the ‘Lets bug our friend till she tells us’ game.

*ping*

Alvin: And who knows what they’re doing. To be a fly on their wall.

You: Ew, I’m going to pretend I didn’t read that.

*ping*

Francis: dido… I could at least be a lamp.

God! Your friends were something else.

You:  I’m surrounded by fucking brain dead boys! I’m going to go make some ramen to escape you two. Brb.

*ping*

Alvin: Ah, Ramen; the food of the poor gods.

*ping*

Francis: I still don’t know how you stomach that shit. Fake noodles with death infused salt packages, SOOOOO yummy.

Shaking your head, you left your phone on the couch before heading to the kitchen. If you were going to get anything done you couldn’t have your phone distracting you.

Your apartment wasn’t a big one, let alone glamourous, your living room cut off into the kitchen/laundry room by the means of a short hallway and your bedroom was connected by said hallway. Truthfully, you had the smallest apartment in your building. Reason: it was all you could afford. Sure, your job paid well, but most of the money from it went into your rent. Whatever money you had left was put into food and whatever else you needed.

Thankfully, there was cheap food out there like ramen to settle your hunger.

The instant noodles in a cup were a comfort food for you and as you saved your money to buy some decent food you ate these like there was no tomorrow. Not healthy, but hey no one said you had to be… most of the time.

Sticking your food in the microwave, you leaned against the sink while glancing at your bedroom door. The monster inside hadn’t woken up, barely stirred, and it worried you. Deciding to go check on him, you pushed open the door to find him still on the bed. He was on his side now, his back to you, and that made you sigh in relief. At least he was still alive and moving.

Walking over to the bedside, you placed your hand on his shoulder. From what you could see of his face, the skeleton seemed to be resting peacefully. His sockets were closed and a smile slowly crept onto his face at your touch. You weren’t sure how a skeleton could smile or close his sockets, but with monsters you guessed anything was possible. And it seemed anything possible was already happening.

Some of the cracks on the monster’s body were already healing on their own. The crack on his head though stayed and still looked painful as ever. You weren’t sure what to do about that, best thing to do you thought was to just wait for him to wake up and tell you.

Hearing the ding from the kitchen, the signal that your ramen was done, you gave the monster a gentle pat before leaving; unaware that his smile fell as you left.

After eating your noodles, and a bit more talking to your friends, you drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

You woke up to the sound of something falling over. You didn’t open your eyes right away, a bit too tired to really care, but then you remembered your little rat problem you had a month ago. It had taken weeks to get all the rats out of your place without killing them, you loved little critters and rats were in that category, and you didn’t want to go through that experience again.

“I swear if you rats are back I am just going to buy a cage for you.” Your voice sounded tired, which you were, and with a yawn you sat up and stretched. Honestly the thought of keeping the rats as pets didn’t sound so bad, would be nice to have someone waiting for you at home… but maybe _wild_ rats weren’t the best for that job.

Standing up, you went to move to the kitchen but stopped.

You saw what it was that had been knocked over, and it wasn’t something the rats could even think of pushing over.

Laying on the floor, using his arms to hold his upper half up, was the skeleton monster; awake and apparently moving around. From what you could see from your open door, he had tried to get out and had fallen over a few times with the items that were on the floor. After having gotten back to his feet he must have gotten out into the hallway but fallen over again.  And now was staring up at you looking very confused.

“Oh my god, your awake.” You said as you walked over to him and got down on your knees. “Are you alri-”

As you moved to touch his face he flinched away; fear written all over his face. He was afraid.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” You said softly as you placed your hand on his shoulder. “I want to help you.”

His sockets were dark, but somehow you were able to read what he was thinking. He was still scared and he was waiting for some form of reassurance you wouldn’t harm him. Smiling you held your free hand out to him. Hoping this would be enough for him, you waited for him to take your hand.

For what seemed like ages, the two of your shared eye contact; both waiting for something to happen.

Strange, how easy it was to look at someone who didn’t have eyes but you knew was looking right at you. It was… peaceful, you guessed was a good word for it. You had never felt like this before when holding someone’s gaze before and it felt nice.

Finally breaking the connection between the two of you, the skeleton looked down at your offered hand and slowly took it. His grip was like steel but at the same time you could feel how shaky it was as you gently grabbed it. He knew you were there to help him, but he was still fearful.

“Okay, let’s get you back up on your feet.” You said more to yourself as you hoisted the skeleton to his feet. It wasn’t a difficult task but with the way he leaned over you with his extreme height it felt awkward.

Moving in a slow shuffle you managed to get the monster to the couch and set him down on it. His gaze was all over the place as he sat there, moving from the tv to the coffee table, and never focused on you. Some reason this hurt you. You weren’t sure why, but something inside you wanted him to look back at you. Shaking the thought from your head, you headed towards the kitchen.

“Are you hungry? I don’t have much but I whip up some scrambled eggs if you want?” you called from the kitchen as you got started on the quick meal. The monster turned to look at you down the hall but said nothing; staying quiet with the confused gaze he had on him. “Eggs it is then.”

One quick crack of a couple eggs and scrambling later, and thankfully you didn’t burn them, you brought two plates into the living room for you and your guest. The skeleton hadn’t moved from where you had left him, but he did have your blanket around his frail body. It was a bit cold in here but you liked the cold, you and heat never mixed well.

“Here.” You said as you placed a plate on the monster’s lap. “I hope you don’t mind them scrambled. I suck at sunny side up eggs.”

Again, the skeleton said nothing, but he did moved his arms from out under the blanket to take the plate and fork. He stared at the food as you sat down next to him. Maybe he didn’t like eggs, smooth move on your part. Feeling your face blush, you picked at your eggs; no longer feeling hungry. Why didn’t you ask him if he wanted something else; press him more? You always messed up the little things in life.

Glancing at the monster next to you, your eyes caught him staring at you and your food. Maybe he was waiting for you to eat first to make sure it wasn’t poisoned? Sure, that sounded a bit farfetched but you didn’t know what the monster was thinking. Heck, half the time your mind went to the implausible negative outcomes. Yes you knew stupid shit didn’t always happen but you worried it did.

Taking a bite from your food, you watched as the skeleton mimicked your movements and started to eat. A hungry smile appeared shortly after the first bite and not long after that he was scarfing down his food. That made you smile. At least you had made something decent to eat for someone.

Breakfast went by silently, not a big deal really, seeing as no one but you live here that was normal, but having someone else here in the apartment felt… nice. You had gotten to use to being alone and having no one around that now that you did you realized how lonely it was.

When the last bite of food was gone from your plates, you both set them down on the coffee table. Both of you sat there awkwardly and you just wished you could be swallowed up by the couch. You were never good with talking to strangers and this silence the monster was giving was only making it worse.

“So… do you have a name I can call you by?” you asked as he glanced at him. “I noticed the scarf you have on has some letters but not a full name…”

The skeleton looked down at the scarf he wore and held one of its ends in his hands; studying it. When no reply came you pulled your legs to your chest. Maybe the scarf wasn’t his to begin with? It could be someone else’s he borrowed. Maybe you shouldn’t have brought it up. You’re starting to look like a weirdo, you thought to yourself, stop being stupid and asking silly things.

During your little mental rambling, you didn’t notice the skeleton take the scarf off and stare at it. Nor did you see him look at you with the most confused look anyone could muster, but what he said next did catch your attention real quick like.

“… my name..? I… I don’t remember.”


	3. Your Responsibility, Your Skeleton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NA-GAR! NEW CHPTR!
> 
> I am getting into the writing moody again!

Morning had passed by faster than you really wanted it to, and with the start of the afternoon you found yourself hiding away in your shower. The events from earlier were replaying over and over in your head, and no matter what you did the words the skeleton said didn’t go away.

He couldn’t remember his name; _his own name_. He had no idea who he was or where he came from. Heck, when you brought up Mt. Ebott, the place all monsters came from years ago, he just gave you a confused look.

Amnesia, a simple seven letter word but with a big meaning, is what your guest had. And in truth, you weren’t completely surprised by this. With the beating he had sustained from those brutes in the alley, anyone, human or monster, wouldn’t come out of that without some brain damage… er, skull damage?

Groaning softly as the warm water pitter pattered over your body, you knew that things had just gotten ten times, no, a _million_ times more complicated.

Amnesia could be long or short term, and with how the monster outside your bathroom didn’t even remember his own name you had a high educated guess it was extremely long term. For heaven’s sake you didn’t even know how long this would last for? Amnesia could last a few days, weeks, and fuck you if this lasted _years_! Until you got medical help for him, you were screwed in the art of not knowing.

As the water in the shower started to get a bit cold you decided you had hid long enough and got out. One stretched out shirt and one baggy pair of sweatpants later, you were stepping out of the bathroom and heading back into the living room. You were shocked to see that the skeleton had not moved an inch from where you had left him on the couch. Even with the tv turned on to some random channel his gaze was turned down to his lap where the scarf he had was placed.

It seemed he was trying to force some memories back by the sere power of just staring at his only indication of who he was. You weren’t sure if that was a good thing, maybe it could hurt him even more then he was, and decided to grab his attention.

“Hey,” You said softly while approaching the skeleton. “How you feeling?”

Bad question. _Bad ass_ question. What compelled you to ask that?!

The skeleton said nothing for a minute or so before he let out a sigh and tossed his scarf to the coffee table.

“Lost.” He’s voice was soft, quiet as he stared at the scarf and then to his hands. “I… I know things, like how I have ten fingers and toes but… my name, who I was… is all gone.”

Way to make him feel bad. You wanted to kick yourself so bad that you thought about doing it; or at least bang your head into the wall for being so stupid. But now was neither the time nor the place to lose it. This monster needed someone to be stable right now, and since he wasn’t able to be that it looked as though the stable one had to be you… hopefully you could manage that for more than five minutes.

“Hey, don’t worry. We’ll figure out who you are and find out where you live.” You tried to sound positive and reassuring but the way you dare not look at him you bet you didn’t win him over. “We can… go to the police today and maybe get you to a doctor? We can see if anyone’s filed a missing person’s report and see if anything can be fixed.”

See if anything can be fixed… That phrase alone made you wish you had a better thought to word filter. You sounded like you were trying to mend a broken toy or something.  You sounded… like _them._

You fell silent quickly as you tripped deeper and deeper into your mind. Silent enough that the skeleton took notice and grabbed your shoulder.

“Thank you… I have a feeling that I’d be even more lost then I am without your help.”

You felt your face blush at his words. You were never good with receiving positive appreciation, even ones as small as this. To you, even if you didn’t like them, negative remarks were easier to accept.

‘ _That’s not your fault_ ’ you told yourself. ‘ _Remember what Miss Lora said… It’s not your fault_ ’

“… We should get going them.” You said as you quickly moved towards your room. “I’m sure I have some clothes that will fit you.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

After a quick wardrobe change, and getting rid of those torn clothes he had, You and your monster companion were off. Your town may be small, but it was equipped with its own Police station and a walk in clinic so you were able to walk to both. God you wanted your car back so badly.

Stopping first at the walk in clinic, seeing as that was closer than the police station, you signed yourself and the skeleton in and waited in the lobby. The clinic wasn’t as busy, but the few people who were there stared at the two of you with multiple different looks. Some were confused as hell as to why you had a monster with you, others as faces more sour then a lemon, and the rest just stared at how tall the skeleton was.

Sure, you were tall too, but with the skeleton standing next to you it showed how much taller he was. You yourself, being almost six foot (damn that one quarter of an inch) was at least a head _shorter_ then he was. Damn beanstalk skeleton had to at least be seven foot and a half!

Finally sitting down, at the farthest pair of chairs from everyone else, you busied yourself with the kiddy toys nearby. Fuck it that you were an adult, you needed something to busy your mind. Playing with the wire mess that had those movable beads (what was this thing even called?!) you tried to ignore the stares.

“… is this the police station?” Your skeleton asked… yours? Well at this point you guess he was under your care so, yeah, _your_ skeleton.

“No, this is the clinic.” You explained as you looked up at him. “A doctor will have a look at you…  hopefully.”

“Why hopefully?” he asked. “Aren’t doctors supposed to… help the sick and hurt?”

“Yeah, but some aren’t as nice.” You whispered back as you quickly went back to playing with the toy you nabbed.

A few minutes passed in awkward silence and from the way your skeleton fidgeted in his seat he was really uncomfortable; maybe as much as you were. Maybe if you two busied yourselves with something, it wouldn’t be as bad?

“How about we try and figure out what your name is?” You suggested as you put the toy aside for now. “Or at least pick something to call you.”

“… okay.” His smile must have been contagious because the moment he smiled at you, you smiled back.

“Well… your scarf had the letters r-u-s. Not many names I can think of but I got a few.”

Waiting for your ideas, your skeleton stared at you with wide sockets.

“… how about Rusty? Are you a Rusty?”

The face he made told you he really hoped not. You couldn’t help but giggle. Still amazed by monsters and their magic, you watched as his nose ridge scrunched up in disgust and shake his head.

“Okay, so hopefully not a Rusty… How about Russel?”

“… it sounds like an old man’s name… do you think I’m an old man?”

God, he was frickin adorable.

“No,” you snickered again. “I don’t think you are. You sound young, not much older than me anyway.”

“And how old are you?” He asked with a curious gaze.

“21.” You said with a smile.  You had been so happy when you turned 21, an official adult, and you wanted to be just that; an adult. Sadly… people didn’t treat you like that.

“That’s a big number.” He said with a smile.

“It is, but back to the name game… how about-“

Before you could name off any other ideas, a nurse walked in and called your name.

“Looks like we’re up.” Picking up your bag and saying goodbye to the toy you had been playing with you and your skeleton walked over to the waiting nurse.

To say he was surprised to see a monster with you would be putting it lightly, but thankfully he said nothing and led you behind a door to a hallway full of rooms. You passed by a couple where you were positive you heard children either giggling or crying and it made you smile. You were a sucker for kids, your own siblings were always spoiled when you came around, and the children your friends had knew who you were and always ready to play.

Finally being escorted into an empty room, the nurse told the two of you the doctor would be in shortly. Once alone you rushed over to the swivel stool meant for the doctor and planted your butt on it. Sure it was _meant_ for the doc, but you always had fun waiting and riding around the room on it. Your monster companion, with only one option left, went over to the patient seat and sat down on the crinkly paper covered chair.

“… What will they do?” He asked as he spied the blood pressure gagger on the wall next to those weird things doctors looked into ears with. Hey, you weren’t in the medical field, you didn’t know everything.

“Well, if we get someone who will look at you, they’ll probably see if the cracks are life threatening or something.” You weren’t a hundred percent sure what they’d do, but you were just hoping someone would look at him. Sure they were human doctors, but your skeleton looked pretty much like a human skeleton so hopefully they knew something that could help.

Riding around for a few minutes, snooping through all the unlocked drawers, and after explaining what a gauze was the doctor appeared. She was a short woman with long black hair and bright blue eyes. She had light colored skin that was heavily covered in freckles, and was smiling happily.

“Hello, I’m Doctor Estes.” She greeted as she spotted you in her chair. “Having fun?”

Shoot, busted. Quickly getting up, you moved over by your still unnamed skeleton and blushed again.

“Sorry.” You said softly but Doctor Estes shook her head.

“Don’t be, you’re far more well behaved then my other patience.” She giggled as she turned to the skeleton next to you. “… Who exactly am I seeing?”

“Him.” You said quickly, wanting to say your bit before she shot you down and sent you away, but before you could she nodded and walked over to the cabinet and put on a pair of gloves.

“I guessed so.” She said as she came back, ignoring the stool since it was too short for her to reach the skeleton even if he was sitting. “What happened to him?”

Thanking whatever heavenly being was watching over you today, you explained the events from yesterday and didn’t leave anything out. It was a second too late that you hadn’t told your skeleton company any of this and apparently he didn’t remember by the horrified look in his sockets.

“дерьмо́.” Estes said in some language you didn’t know but with how she mirrored the look on the monster’s face she was just has horrified. “Have you reported the event?”

“No, we are going to the police after this.” You said as you took the now silent and worried skeleton’s hand. “Hopefully they’ll help us.”

“Я надеюсь, что они делают, а.” Doctor Estes said to herself as she turned to your skeleton. “Any other damage besides what I can see?”

“His ribs are cracked… actually, pretty much all of him is.” You said as Doctor Estes asked to see. “He also has amnesia.”

“Long term or just the fight?”

“Everything; gone.” The skeleton finally spoke. “I… I can’t even remember my name.”

The doctor’s  expressed began to fill with sympathy as she pulled his shirt down.

“Don’t worry sweetie, things will come back on their own.” Estes said as she patted his knee gently. “I can’t offer much for the cracks, seeing as if a human was like this they wouldn’t be moving. So I am hoping your monster magic is what is keeping you together and healing you, but I am going to give you some wraps for his ribs. They need something to keep them steady… I can’t do anything for the two that are gone.

“Maybe some calcium tablets will help so pick him up some.” Estes continued as she dug around in the drawers and pulled out the wraps for you to take. “I am not a monster doctor but I can say that he needs to take it easy until the cracks heal.”

Taking the items the doctor offered, you nodded your head and watched as your skeleton stood up.

“I wish you both the best of luck.” Doctor Estes said as she walked the two of you out of the clinic. “If you need anything else, come see me.”

Saying your thanks, the both of you left the clinic and started to walk the trek to the police station. It was quiet for the first few minutes, but it didn’t last as you felt a tap on your shoulder.

“What if no one filed a… whatever it is you called? What if I am not missed?” The skeleton asked you as while walking.

You… weren’t sure how to respond to that. You liked to think that there was someone out there forever one, someone who cared, but the reality was that the world didn’t work that way. Yes, there were people who were happy and loved their family members no matter what, but… there were families who didn’t. Some families were filled with nothing but hate and anger, where no love lived. While other families weren’t even families and people were left to die alone. The world wasn’t fluffy happy critters singing joyful tunes, it was more animals that had mange and just trying to get through life without being killed.

But you couldn’t say that.

“I’m sure there’s someone out there for you.” You said as you gave your best fake smile. “And we’ll find them.”

He didn’t say anything after that for the rest of the walk, even when you tried to start up the name game again. This made your insides twist in pain. You had upset him, way to go.

When you finally made it to the police station you felt ready to go hide out in the bathroom like you did this morning. The men and woman who walked in and out the building, which you and Alvin had long called it the Po-Po Castle, you led the way inside. God, there was way too many people in here.

Men to your right, a woman to your left, a group of three shoved passed you, they said something but you didn’t hear it. _Way_ too many people. You wanted to leave right then and there, this large amount of people you didn’t know always set you on edge, and you could feel your heart starting to act up and skip a beat or two.

You weren’t sure when an arm wrapped around your shoulder and pulled you aside, but when you found your face pressing into a familiar sweater you glanced up to see that your mystery monster was holding you.

“Are you alright?”  He asked softly.

It was that question alone that you realized what had just happened; a panic attack. Gently pushing yourself away, you wiped your face to make sure you weren’t crying and to just busy yourself.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You lied, a lie you had said so much over the years that you had perfect the poker face that came with it. “Let’s find someone to help us.”

He looked like he wanted to ask something, but thankfully the monster stayed silent and nodded. Taking your hand, he allowed you to lead the way into the sea of police officers; your gaze permanently to the floor. Thankfully you managed to get to a desk that had a man behind it working on a computer.

“Excuse me,” You said softly, not having the energy to raise your voice. “We need some help.”

The man typed a bit on his keyboard for a few seconds before turning to you. He had a smile at first but when he noticed the monster, who was still holding your hand, it changed into a frown.

“What can I help you with?” he asked, in a tone that set you on edge; a tone that kind of said fuck off.

“We want to see if any monsters have gone missing and to file a missing persons-”

“Listen kid,” The man said as he turned to the computer again. “Monsters go missing daily, and barely any of them are reported missing, especially to us. Now if you have a _human_ to report missing, that’s a different story.”

… what the actual fuck? He couldn’t be serious?!

“But he’s lost and needs help finding his-”

“Even if he was processed, no one would be there to look for him.” The man said as he clicked his finger on the mouse. “Monsters are still not processed legally yet to use our files to look for missing persons… or in _your_ case _your_ monster. So go home kid, and stop wasting our time. We have real people to look for, not some anatomy project.”

…

You wanted to fucking slap the cop… no, he was a _Po-Po_ you and Alvin made fun of; the kind of cop that didn’t really care about helping people and just stuffed their faces and hurt others. You wanted to scream so loud that the whole precinct could hear you and hear the anger you had boiling in your blood… but you didn’t.

Your fear always kept you in check, afraid of what would happen _if_ you did anything you really wanted to do. So with a bitter hiss and a mental ‘screw you’ you slowly turned away… but your skeleton didn’t.

“Aren’t you supposed to help people?” the monster said as he tried to get the man’s attention. “I need help.”

“I help _people_ , not freaks like you.” Was all the cop said as he stayed focused on the computer screen.

You tried tugging on his hand, but the taller skeleton wouldn’t move. You pulled harder but still nothing. Not really thinking, you opened your mouth and just spat out the first thing you thought of.

“Rus, let’s go.” You said as you pulled once more at his hand.

Hearing your voice snapped his attention away from the man and to you instead. You two shared a glance before he closed his sockets and sighed.

“… alright.”

This world could be cruel sometimes; it wasn’t made for people like you and Rus. Two beings that didn’t fit into the norm the world had made and were shunned away for it.

… But you had luckily found others who didn’t fit either… Rus…

He was alone right now.

You knew it probably would be a bit hectic at times but you had to be there for him.

Like the cop had insinuated… Rus was your responsibility now.

Your responsibility… Your Skeleton.


	4. Love is Patient

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blarg, a bit of a shortie. 
> 
> but hey! A chptr is a chptr.

By the time you two got home, the anger from earlier had fizzled out, and was now nothing more than an irritation in the back of your mind. Sure, you were upset that the cop refused to help you or Rus, but your moments of anger only ever lasted a few minutes before you moved on. You never understood it and everyone always asked you how you were able to just move on so quick from anger. Your best answer was that life was too short to stay angry at things that wouldn’t last…

Even if you wanted to stay angry at the cop still.

“… What now?” Rus looked worried as he shut the door behind you and even how he managed to shut the door without making it creek showed it. “That human said that no one would be looking for me.”

“Don’t think like that, of course there is someone out there worrying about you.” You waved your hand in a dismissing manner, not wanting to linger on the cop or his negativity, and headed to the kitchen. “Ignore what he said, he was a jerk.”

Rus seemed to take your word for it and followed after you. Your kitchen, being so small, seemed even smaller now that Rus was in it with you. Thankfully, you were an expert on moving around in small places after having lived in an equally small house with your family. The memories of all the pushing, shoving, ducking, and weaving came to mind and you smiled. Memories like those, peaceful memories, were far and few between it seemed as of late and it was good to look back on moments like those.

“Anything I can do to help?” Rus asked as you emptied out your grocery bags. You had made a quick pit stop at the store to grab some food and those calcium tablets the doctor had told you to get for Rus. Thank god the store had them, you weren’t in the mood of hitching a ride from a friend or even the thought of walking to the next town for them was out of the question. You couldn’t wait till your car got back. Fuck what people said about how healthy walking was, you would take your car and the fatness you gained anyday.

“Um… How about filling up a pot with water?” You suggested as you pointed to a lower cabinet where your pots and pans were. “Spaghetti sound good for dinner?”

“Alright.” Rus was already going to the cabinet you pointed at and looking in it as you turned to grab a noodle ladle, or whatever the heck this large spoon with teeth jutting out of it was called.

Rus was a big help in the dinner making process and you were shocked at how fast things got done with his help. Sure you had to tell him what to do and what to get but it went by a hell of a lot faster than if it was just you cooking. The pasta noodles were done in no time and the side dish of veggies were chopped, cooked, and ready for serving.

“Peas and Carrots, Carrots and Peas, food be done please please please.” You said to yourself as you made Rus and your plates.

“… What?” Rus laughed at hearing your little saying and took his plate from you. “Where’d that come from?”

You could feel your face on the verge of turning beet red as the skeleton asked his question. You hated when moments like this happened, especially around people you didn’t know too well. You had your own little sayings and quirks that made little to no sense to anyone but you and half the time you didn’t think about when you did them only when someone said something.

“uh… nothing; just messing around.”  You basically bailed yourself out of that situation faster than a bat out of hell as you quickly took your plate and retreated to the living room. “Sound effects make the world go round and a little more lighthearted bullshit.”

Planting your sorry ass down on the couch, you went straight to work stuffing your face. Maybe if Rus saw you had a full mouth he wouldn’t ask you about what you had just said.

Wishful thinking.

Not a moment later Rus was sitting on the other end of the couch and looking at you with a small smile. At the moment you caught his gaze on you, another one of your bad habits kicked in. Ever since you were little you had a big, no _massive_ , problem about eating in front of people that weren’t close family. You would pick and push at your food until the other people were half way done and say you were full or even purposely take smaller helpings to not look like a pig…

Were you a pig? In the barn yard sense, no, you weren’t. Although some of your family members _always_ liked to point out how sloppy your eating was or how you were a bit of a gluten made you think that a barn yard pig is what you probably should be.

“Sorry if I upset you,” Rus is already picking at his food as you managed to take a bite of yours. “I just thought it was… cute.”

Spaghetti was flying out of your mouth like a tsunami faster than you wished it would and before you could stop the shocked coughing fit that came from you. Thankfully you had the brains to turn your head back down to your plate so the mess wasn’t as bad, but the embarrassment wasn’t as forgiving.

Rus had set his plate down and began to rub your back as you coughed up a few more noodles before you finally calmed down. Once that problem was settled you put your plate down on the coffee table as well before taking a drink of water. Finally satisfied that you weren’t going to keel over, you fell silent.

No one had ever really used the word ‘cute’ around you; let alone something about you. So having heard Rus say that your little silly word play was cute… shocked you. Maybe it even terrified you a bit… you had no reasons to be called cute, beautiful, or any of those things. You had problem after problem, and that was only the wrapping on the box of disaster that was you.

“Well… cute isn’t what I would call it but… thanks?” You shrugged, what were you supposed to say?! Not only did Rus call something about you cute but you then proceeded to spew food after the fact… smooth.

“… no prob.” Rus continued to smile as he looked away and spotted the tv remote. “What’s on?”

… your insides did a small flip flop. How could Rus be so calm after what just happened? Normally when shit like this happened when you were around your family they’d scream or pitch a fit at you. Rus… just smiled and went on. Monsters were either just plain weird or it was just the fact that Rus couldn’t remember things.

“… channel 32 has cop shows on around this time.” You say as you relax, as best you could, into the back of the couch; your appetite gone. “And 31 probably has some kid shows on.”

Rus hummed in acknowledgement and soon went channel surfing. The skeleton went on to eat unlike you and things fell silent. A few episodes of some wildlife documentary show and a couple minutes of staring at a show you weren’t sure what the plot was about was when you decided to pick at you food again. One movie later found you taking the dishes to the living room during the commercials and after that came another movie that wasn’t as exciting and before you could stop yourself you were fast asleep.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Rus had noticed you falling asleep a little bit after the second movie. He could say he blamed you, the movie was a bit dull. The skeleton found himself staring at your curled up body that had taken up your side and the middle of the couch. Your hair had fallen over your face and was blocking it from view. Brushing it aside, Rus stared at your features for a moment in thought.

He may not remember much, but he had a feeling that humans weren’t as kind to monsters as you were. The incident with the police officer was a good example of this. It made Rus wonder why you were so kind to him and at the same time why you got so easily flustered.

It didn’t take an idiot to notice that your face went a bright red at certain moments and Rus had a feeling it was caused by feeling embarrassed. Why you would feel that way he wasn’t sure. He may not be the best to cast judgement, seeing as he couldn’t remember a thing, but he thought you were a decent person. You were kind, helpful, and funny at times.

Like at the store, Rus had to smile as he remembered how you had went to grab a box and it just slipped out of your hands. You went for a mad attempt to catch it, making cute little noises as you almost had it but it just kept on jumping away. Or how Rus had noticed you making little comments on passing by people’s conversations and making up how their talk would end.

Looking at the clock, Rus was surprised to see that so much time had already gone by and it was already past midnight. Rus remembered you saying to him how he could sleep in your bed for the night until things got settled but it didn’t feel right with him to do that. Picking you up slowly enough to where you didn’t even stir, Rus took you to your room and tucked you in. It was your bed, he was some random monster from the street; he didn’t deserve your bed.

Once sure you were comfortable Rus went back out to the living and sat down on the couch. The house was quiet, giving it a bit of an eerie feel, and Rus restlessly jumped his leg. He wasn’t tired in the slightest, and he didn’t want to chance turning the tv back on and waking you. So that only left him with his mind and to think.

Rus tried, damn did he try, to remember his life before this, but nothing came to mind; nothing but darkness. It became almost painful with how hard he was trying to remember his past and he soon gave up. Flopping down on the couch, Rus sighed irritably as he rubbed his skull. He could feel the cracks under his boney fingers and it made him wince.

What was his old life like? Who was missing him? _Was_ there anyone missing him? Rus wanted nothing more than to remember, but he just couldn’t. The only thing that came to mind as to how far his memory went… was your face. In that dark ally, as the rain was pouring down, your concerned face was as far back as Rus could go.

Turning onto his side, Rus closed his eyes in frustration before letting out a sigh. It was upsetting that he couldn’t remember his past but… it wasn’t so bad that his new memories started off with you he figured.

Wincing from the pain in his ribs Rus turned onto his other side and faced the back of the couch. Somehow he knew things would be alright. With you there to help him out Rus had no doubt in his mind that he would find out where he belonged. It may take some time on both his part and yours, but something about you gave off this feeling that you wouldn’t give up on him.

With that in mind, Rus closed his sockets and tried to get some rest.

With the image of you in his mind to help calm and lull him to sleep.


End file.
